A/N: In celebration of daughter's day.✨
To all the wonderful girls in this fandom, I'm sending big hugs and to those of you who are unable to be close to your families today, sending even bigger hugs.đź’•
Just as Paula brought her bike to a halt, Phoenix leapt out from her seat in the back and galloped towards the house, shouting and looking for their parents. Fasteneing her bike to a post, Paula grinned at her sister's excitement. Nic had just been made the art club president of second grade, something she had been looking forward to ever since the beginning of the year.
Paula herself was quite perky that afternoon. She had started going to school on her bike a while ago but it was the first time she was allowed to take Phoenix with her. Her parents trusting her with that responsibility felt like a huge achievement, not to mention how Nic said that Paula looked 'so cool' riding the bike with ease.
But as soon as Paula entered the living room she knew something had gone wrong. She could almost smell it in the air. In the middle of the room stood a heaving Phoenix, her glasses seating askew on her nose. The enthusiasm with which she had come running towards the house just a few minutes before, had vanished from her face. Their eyes met and Paula raised an eyebrow at her, asking without words if she knew what was going on in the home.
Phoenix whispered, "Do you smell it?"
Scrunching up her nose, Paula concentrated harder on the smell. Vanilla essence.
Shit.
Shit.
Raquel Murillo was baking. This was not good. Her mother never baked anything, not if she was in a good mood. Everyone in the house, probably everyone on Palawan, was aware of what it meant if she was baking. Nothing good is what.
Sighing, Paula asked Nic, "Are you thinking what I am thinking?"
Phoenix nudged the glasses up on her nose, her face gloomy and said, "Uh-huh."
"So who do you want this time?"
"Umm…"
"I call dibs on Sergio!" Paula took advantage of Nic's indecision. Sergio was akin to what she liked to call a 'buddy' of hers. Way more malleable. She didn't trust herself around a baking Raquel anyway. They were both too hot in the head and a shouting match could ensue at any given time. No, thank you. She'd take Raquel the next time. Maybe .
"But…" Phoenix tried to protest.
Paula tutted, "A dib is a dib, Nic. Go on now. We've got work to do."
Phoenix narrowed her eyes at Paula for a moment, then left muttering something under her breath. Paula would be lying if she said that she wasn't just a bit alarmed at how her sister might get back at her for this little trick. Phoenix might have gone a lot after Sergio, but unfortunately, hadn't turned as supposedly harmless as him.
Pushing her fear of her little sister to a corner of her mind, Paula went straight to the office. If her mother was baking, there was only one place Sergio would be in: the office, hunched over his books and charts, scribbling away with frustration etched on his face.
Instead, Paula found him there making cranes. Tons and tons of origami cranes.
Huh. That was new.
A frustrated Sergio would usually turn his pretty origami-s into a pulp if any was in front of him. But now that he was all focussed and bringing out those structures smoothly, it added new elements to Paula's calculations. Clearing her throat audibly she took a seat opposite him.
Startled, Sergio looked up from his work and exhaled a sigh of relief when he saw her.
"I thought it was your mom."
"Oh yeah?" Paula leaned back against the chair with a coy smile. It was always a bit too much fun to rile up Sergio before she got down to help him. "Why did you look petrified thinking it was mom? She isn't a zombie, you know. Or at least she wasn't when I went to school."
"Paula," Sergio mumbled, shaking his head, knowing her sinister plans well.
"Oh god," Paula made a frightened face. "What have you done to my mother when I was gone?"
Paula received no other reaction than Sergio glowering at her over his glasses. It took her a massive effort to suppress a snort. The so-called Professor didn't know it but he looked nothing short of a delinquent child when he was angry and frustrated with the world and especially with her mother. Paula had a hard time taking any of it seriously. But for the sake of peace in the house, she had to. Paula sobered up.
"No, really. What did you do?"
"Nothing," Sergio said, shrugging.
"The house doesn't smell like nothing, Sergio."
Ah, so the baking Raquel had emerged. Sergio picked up another paper to make the thousandth crane of that afternoon. Trying to bring his focus back to the work, rather than fixating on Raquel's fury. He muttered, "I had nothing to do with that."
"That's very believable," Paula chuckled, before grabbing a red paper herself.
She hadn't realised when the love for origami had seeped into her. Now it bordered on addiction. If there were origami papers lying around, she just had to pick it up and make something. There was a bonus to doing it alongside Sergio. The desire to make something more beautiful and complicated and beat him at his own game was almost as addictive as origami itself.
"She was being stubborn," Sergio said quietly.
He didn't have any wish to talk about it, but knowing Paula she wouldn't give up until everything was brought up to air before her. If there was one thing common to every member of this family, it was persistence. Next to being stubborn, of course. Except for him, he was not even close to being stubborn.
"Ah…" Paula chuckled again, folding the paper in her hand, "There we go."
"She just thinks she knows best. About everything!"
It was something Paula often complained about her mother herself. During their impassioned fights, Paula would hurl harsh words at Raquel saying how she always acted like whatever she was saying had to be the only right thing. How hard it was to get her to understand Paula's views and so on. But it was one thing being in the fight herself and it was another to be a neutral party. Standing at the sidelines, she could notice what her enraged self would not even want to see.
"She probably does know best," Paula shrugged.
"Oh, no, no," Sergio wagged a finger at her, his jaws set. "Not you too. You can't side with her on this one."
"Whoa. When have I ever taken sides?" She was a little offended by Sergio's choice of words. "And how can I take a side when you won't even fess up and tell me what is going on here?"
Sergio shook his head and grumbled, "Raquel said that she knows best just because she is her daughter. You tell me do you see any reasonable ground to her statement?"
The origami flower that was starting to take shape in her hand had caught Paula's attention again. She looked up at Sergio, confused. "Daughter? You mean abuela's daughter?"
"Yes." He nodded, making a face.
Paula was perplexed. "You two had a fight over abuela? Get outta here!"
Good thing that Sergio was conversant with modern lingo now and didn't perceive her words literally. He urged, " We didn't fight. I just had a small disagreement with your mother."
Typical. Paula rolled her eyes. Nothing was a fight in Sergio's books. All that was there were disagreements, differences of opinion. He never even got angry. He would even bicker with Raquel if she said that Sergio needed to evaluate his anger, saying he could only get upset, never angry.
"Which I assume she started?" Paula smirked, throwing him another leading question.
"Yes. That is right."
"Sergio! You are being obtuse… again ."
"I only wanted MarivĂ to take more rest and now I am the villain?" Sergio snarled, placing another beautiful crane on the table. It was an invitation to Paula to finish hers, as if it was a chess match where Paula's turn had come.
There had to be more to it. There seemed no apparent reason for Raquel to go start baking if Sergio was being thoughtful about abuela. Paula pressed on, "Nobody is vilifying you. But comm'on, you got to give me the whole scoop."
Sergio sighed, wishing he could flee from the entire situation but also not having it in him to give Paula any more vague answers. "I found MarivĂ helping your mother set the table for lunch. So I interrupted saying she shouldn't be doing so much work and should take some rest. That didn't go down well with your mother."
"That is all?" Paula raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well… uhm… yeah… more or less…" he fumbled, "Raquel said that she is MarivĂ's daughter so she of course knows best, that MarivĂ needed to stay active as long as her body permitted to and so on. Well, I know that but her mind could be affected by her bodily strain, couldn't it?"
It was sweet how Sergio would fuss over each woman in the house and their well being, but it could also get a little too much at times. Paula knew the signs and as bizarre as it was she understood her mother's reason to get frustrated with Sergio today. But his heart was in the right place, as always. He should be given credit for that.
"I don't think she would get bodily strain from setting the table, would she?" Paula placed her elbows on the table. Tinkering with her paper, she said, "Well, Sergio, abuela has been a person who would be doing a million little things around the house all day. Her rest was in her work. Do you really think you can take her work away from her and that would be good?"
No response came from Sergio as he picked up another paper in his hands, folding it, pulling out corners.
Paula softened her voice, "You aren't wrong to worry. Even then you have to trust Mom. Abuela considers you nothing less than a son but Mom is her daughter and they have this silent communication, a sacred kind of bond, you know?"
He wasn't unaware of that. But he also wanted MarivĂ to be as far away from danger or stress as he could. No one in the family knew his attempt at hurting her during the heist of the mint, not even Raquel. But that guilt had never died down. He just had to do everything in his power to keep MarivĂ safe. The reason was almost selfish. He needed her to be safe, needed her to be well, long enough for Sergio to take care of her and cherish her, which would probably someday make his guilt just a little less overbearing.
"I know," he nodded, his eyes downcast.
"So, now does it look like all that hullabaloo was a lot of nonsense?" Paula asked, chuckling, giving finishing touches to her origami.
"Something like that. Yes."
"Good," Paula said, setting down her origami lotus on the table, "Shall we proceed to the kitchen then and defuse a baking detonator?"
Sergio was so mesmerised by the lotus Paula had made, a symbol of peace, her checkmate move that her words took a minute longer to reach his brain. Chuckling, he said, "We shall." He wanted to say how immensely proud he was that Paula had not only picked up on his hobby but had also polished herself to become quite an expert at it. But, in the end, he kept it simple, "Today's match has ended with you as the winner anyway."
The smell of vanilla essence and butter kept getting stronger as Phoenix tiptoed over to the kitchen. She didn't exactly have a plan on what to do. Thinking on her feet was not exactly her forte. But she knew well that there were advantages to being the youngest member of the family. In a way that was her whole strategy.
Peeking from the doorway, Phoenix found her mother taking out a tray full of cookies from the oven, her face relaxed. That meant Raquel had some time to cool off. Good for Phoenix. She hopped onto the task with a cheery voice, as if she had no idea that anything was wrong, "Hola, mamá!"
Raquel was too engrossed in baking to hear Phoenix's footsteps. Surprised, she looked up, a grin spreading over her lips at the sight of her daughter. "Hola, Little P! When did you get back?"
Phoenix hugged her mother's midriff, before settling down on one of the kitchen tools. "About ten minutes ago. Big P rides the bike so so good. When can I take my bike to school?"
"Not for another few years," Raquel smiled, placing the tray on the counter, "The big roads are way too crowded, honey. I'm sorry."
"Ah, it's okay," she waved her hand around "I knew it but I just took a chance."
Raquel was almost constantly surprised to find out how each of her daughters had such distinct personalities. Paula had to fight Raquel on everything, no matter what. Phoenix would take things as they came, knowing her limits, never pushing too much. Paula was headstrong and impulsive, Phoenix, on the other hand, was shy and sensitive, all while hiding a mischievous self beneath her shell.
"As soon as you grow a little older though," Raquel nudged her, "We are going to go on big adventures on our bikes together."
Beaming, Phoenix nodded her head.
She needed a way to get into business now. The easy thing to do was to ask her mother why she was baking all of a sudden but that might not be the smart thing to do. Scraping her nails against the counter, Phoenix wondered what her elder sister would do in this situation. Maybe Paula would go right for the target and make Raquel even angrier, but she'd still know exactly how to bring out the matter through Raquel's enraged ramble.
"Hey," Raquel nudged her again. Phoenix seemed like she had been transported to another universe, her face sullen. "What is going on in that little head of yours? Was everything alright in school?"
Phoenix was broken out of her daydream and beamed at her mother again. "Oh yes! I am the new president of the art club."
"Really? Congratulations, my darling!" Raquel placed a peck on Phoenix's chubby cheek. "We have to go tell…"
She had to stop abruptly. The first thing she wanted to do hearing what Phoenix had achieved was to run to Sergio to give him the news. Being art club president might not seem like a big thing out in the world, but they celebrated each little thing their girls accomplished, both in terms of skill and character. It was a huge deal for them. But today she couldn't, she realised with a sinking heart; not yet. He needed to own up to his idiocy first.
When Raquel's eyes met Phoenix's, she could sense that her daughter knew, at least to a degree, that something was not right. Kids were way more perceptible than adults often gave them credit for. Raquel tried her best to keep up the jolly tone, "Here, take a cookie. You deserve it, honey."
Phoenix took the cookie but didn't have a bite. Instead, she threw Raquel an earnest look, "Are you sad, mamá?"
"What? No, no… I'm so happy. Happier with your news," Raquel fumbled over her words. Maybe it was just the sincerity in the way kids talked, the way their hearts hadn't been corrupted yet that made hiding the truth from them so hard.
"You're lying," Phoenix stated, as a matter of fact, turning the cookie around in her fingers.
Shit. Raquel bit her tongue at being caught.
Taking a seat beside her, Raquel said, "I'm sorry, Little P. That wasn't right of me. I'm not… exactly sad… umm.. I'm just having a difficult day."
"Is it because of papá?"
There was no way Raquel could lie again. It was a matter of principle and Phoenix would see right through it anyway. Besides, Raquel did not want to bring up her daughters in a home where issues were hushed, fights were swept under the rug. Since she needed them to be able to talk with her about their troubles openly, Raquel realised she herself needed to be transparent to them.
"Yes and no. We did have a small fight but like I tell you, I am not holding anyone else responsible for how I am feeling."
Just as being the youngest member had its advantages, Phoenix realised with a sigh it also had its downsides. Raquel would not tell her she was angry with her father, just because she thought Phoenix was too young to take it. She'd make it a learning curve for her, all while Phoenix wished she was taken as seriously in the house as Paula was. She was somewhat treated that way by papá, but for mamá, it seemed like she would forever be a baby.
"So you two didn't shout at each other at all?"
"We… we did a little."
"Over what?" Phoenix had to ask directly this time.
"Uhm…" Raquel stuttered again, pondering over how to divulge the subject, without making Phoenix feel terrible about either of her parents. "Um.. over your abuela.."
"Abuela?" Of all the things that Phoenix had expected them to have had a fall out over, this was not even on the horizon. She squinted at her mother, "You and papá had a fight over abuela? But why?"
"Hell if I knew!" Raquel said, exasperated. But winced right away. "You did not hear me say hell. Shit!" She had said it again. Shit . "You did not hear me say any of that."
"Mamá," Phoenix cackled at her mother's misery, "Don't worry. I know you're just irritated with papá and what you say when you're mad, isn't something I should repeat. I know that."
Her shoulders relaxing, Raquel smiled. Phoenix was this girl that Raquel always felt like she just gave birth to yesterday. Yet that girl had more patience and susceptivity than Raquel had gathered in all her life. If Raquel could, she would keep Phoenix small forever, as her little baby, but then she would miss her growing into a wise old lady, one that would be much more empathetic than her. Raquel didn't let it show often, but on many days she considered Phoenix to be more mature than any of the other members of her family.
"You're quite the smarty-pants, aren't you?" Raquel gave her a light tickle. Then, inhaling some air, the smell of vanilla essence reaching her nostrils with it, she let her thoughts out, "Your papá came out of nowhere and started telling me how I overwork your abuela. I… I'm not trying to make you hate him…"
"I know , mamá," Phoenix urged, hoping not to lose the momentum she had just gained with her mother.
"Yeah, right. So…" Raquel gulped, trying to take it slow but knowing full well now that the floodgates had been opened, it'd all come out as a rant. "He tried telling me what is right for my mother. As if I wasn't already aware of that. Like I hadn't spent years talking to her, listening to her pains, her feelings. He said that just because I'm her daughter doesn't mean I always know what's best. He was being so… so.."
Raquel racked around in her brain, trying to find an easier word for 'condescending' and ended up with, "So snotty! He made it sound like I purposefully make Mom work. That is so… He thinks he is the only one who cares about my mom's health, doesn't he? Like no one else is as sympathetic and nice as him in this house. Sometimes your father can be a real piece of…"
Phoenix heard her mother with rapt attention. When her ramble came to a close, Phoenix pushed up the glasses up her nose, unfazed by those words and said quietly, "I know you and papá never really got married. But I think he thinks abuela is his mother as well."
Children and their honesty.
Phoenix's words felt like a blow to her stomach. Why couldn't children be a little more diplomatic? Truth be told, on good days Raquel cherished the bond MarivĂ and Sergio had formed. On one of the nights, when MarivĂ's mind was muddled, she had spoken to Raquel at length, all while referring to Sergio as her son. Raquel never revealed it to Sergio, since MarivĂ had forgotten it herself, but Raquel had kept the memory of that night close to her heart, as a reminder that she had made the right decision to move to Palawan with her family.
"I know," Raquel mumbled.
"And maybe he just thinks if abuela does chores, it might hurt how her brain works?"
Phoenix still was not sure what kind of disease her abuela had, but she could see how MarivĂ's eyes would get vacant at times as if she couldn't even remember where she was. It made Phoenix feel heartbroken, but she was told that there was no medicine for it.
"But small chores do not hurt her brains. It keeps her more engaged, her brain more active. Sergio should have known that," Raquel said, defending herself.
"You're right," Phoenix noted. Her eyes fixed on the cookie in her hand, she shrugged. "But maybe papá was just trying to take part, trying to do what he feels is good for abuela..."
Darn it. There it was again. Raw, sharp-edged truth. Raquel had given Sergio a free rein in treating Paula as his own daughter, maybe it was time she let him consider MarivĂ as his mother too. Raquel was well aware of how much he missed his parents day in and day out. It wouldn't hurt to share hers with him now, with an open mind.
"Yes, you're right. Of course," Raquel chuckled, giving Phoenix another round of tickles.
"Mom, no, no, Mom," Phoenix tried wiggling out of her reach, elated with herself that she had been able to turn her mother around all by herself. Puffing, she said, "Now we have to go end your war with papá."
"End my war?" Raquel hummed her assent, chortling. But she didn't cease her tickle attack on Phoenix as they made their way to the kitchen door.
Occupied with their round of tickles and laughter, they bumped into two incoming figures at the threshold.
"Oh geez," Raquel exclaimed, rubbing her forehead which she now realised she had banged against Sergio's shoulder. Their eyes met, just as each member rubbed some body part as an impact of the collision.
Sergio noticed a quick exchange of stares between his daughters. But other than that, he remained stiff as a board, not sure how he could do or say anything that wouldn't set Raquel off again. He just kept looking at her with desperate, sad eyes, hoping what his voice failed to do, his eyes would.
Glaring at him, her eyebrows raised, Raquel forgot that she had just made up her mind to forgive him, to give him a proper chance to be her mother's son. That man could say absolutely infuriating things to her during a fight and now couldn't fess up to her when she was in front of him. The nerve.
Paula looked from Sergio to her mother and back again and exhaled a dramatic sigh. It felt like these two were younger than even her sister. Paula had already convinced Sergio; Raquel was laughing when they walked in, so it seemed like Nic had also done her part well. Yet here they were, with her parents looking like they could murder each other at any moment.
Paula grunted and said in a resigned voice, "Seriously guys? Did you two even consider that abuela is doing exactly as much as she wants to do and none of you really gets to say anything?"
Raquel and Sergio squirmed and fussed at their spot but still didn't budge.
"Oh god," Paula exchanged a frustrated look with Nic and said, this time with more force, "You two, shake hands."
Raquel peered at Sergio who was scratching his beard in unease. Rolling her eyes, she offered up her hand first.
Sergio felt relief coursing through his veins, as he took her hand in his and shook it. The simple contact lighting up his spirits. His mouth almost broke into a smile but he stopped himself at the last moment.
Raquel could feel both her body and mind get lighter. No good ever came out of yelling at this man, no matter how much she felt she needed to when he became intolerable. Her fury was gone and she could barely hold herself from offering up a smile.
Paula ordered again, "Now give each other a hug."
This time Sergio didn't need to be told twice. Both of them embraced each other with equal enthusiasm.
"I'm so sorry," he mumbled into her hair.
"Shit. I am sorry, cariño," Raquel whispered close to his ear. She drew her head back from his shoulder to gaze into his eyes. The next thing she knew, she was kissing him and was being kissed frantically in return. Her senses heightened after that tense afternoon. She pressed her mouth against him, grazing her tongue against his lips, urging him to deepen the kiss.
Sergio held her firmer in his arms, drawing in the calm strength that acted as an anchor in his life. One afternoon of feeling terrible in the guts over an unnecessary fight was reason enough for him to long again for that serenity. Sergio needed Raquel as his navigator, his north star. He placed several quick pecks on her lips before opening his mouth to welcome her prodding tongue.
Neither of them was really aware that their children were still present beside them until Phoenix let out an 'eww' in a disgruntled voice. Startled, they broke the kiss but neither took their arms off of the other.
"You know, you can just politely ask us to leave when you need the room," Paula said, smirking with a sly wink, before walking out of the kitchen with Phoenix on her toe.
Raquel looked at Sergio, expecting to see his face reddened in embarrassment. Instead, his initial disbelief gave way to a loud cackle. Raquel couldn't contain her snort either. She laughed in his arms, thankful for the maturity that her daughters had been bestowed with which clearly Sergio and she hadn't been able to chalk up yet. He resumed their kiss before she could even finish her laughter and this time with no one to interrupt their little manoeuvres.
Out in the living room, Paula patted her sister on the back for a job well done.
Phoenix beamed back at her, with a hint of mischief in her eyes and said, "Here, Big P, take a cookie. You've earned it."
The sight of that cookie made Paula elated. She hadn't had any food since break time at school and her sister knowing on instinct what she needed made it even sweeter. "Thanks, Nic."
Thrilled, Paula took a bite and spat it out immediately.
"Urgh. Ew. Shit," she exclaimed, her face contorting in disgust. The inside of the cookie was underbaked and Paula could swear that she even tasted the raw egg and oil in it. It didn't take long for Paula to put two and two together. It must have been one of her mother's stress baked batches of cookies where she cared about neither proper measurements, nor temperature. Nic knew it well. She had just taken revenge for Paula tricking her earlier when she called dibs on Sergio.
"Phoenix LucĂa Marquina!" Paula cried out.
But Phoenix was nowhere to be seen.
She had disappeared well ahead of time.
A/N: As always, thanks a ton for reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I'm on Twitter as ch_rainlily.